Tag Archive: lightning

“Naru-Kami’s themes are offerings, excellence and the arts. Her symbols are needles, thunder & lightning and trees. In Japan this Goddess embodies the odd combination of weather magic and artistic inspiration. Perhaps this is how we come by the phrase ‘struck by lightning’ to describe a flash of creativity. In local tradition, any place hit by lightning is thereafter sacred to Naru-Kami. She is also the patroness of trees.

Participants in the Hari-kuyo [which actually takes place in February…], known as the Mass for Broken Needles, honor the ancient art of sewing by bringing broken or bent needles into temples and later consigning them to the sea with thankfulness.

We can translate this observance into a blessing for any creative tool, be it a paintbrush, clay, a musical instrument or even a computer! Take the item and wrap it in green paper (which comes from this Goddess’s sacred trees). Leave it on your altar or in your workroom for the day so Naru Kami can fill it with her inspiring energy.

For those who sew, crochet or knit, definitely take out your needles today and leave them in a special spot with an offering for the Goddess, cakes or tofu being customary. At the end of the day, take these up and use them in your craft to honour Naru Kami and commemorate this holiday with your skills.”

(Patricia Telesco, “365 Goddess: a daily guide to the magic and inspiration of the goddess”.)

Patricia Monaghan says that “the Japanese thunder Goddess was the protector of trees and the ruler of artisans. Wherever She threw a bolt, that place was afterward considered sacred” (p. 227). All the other sources I could find pretty much stated the same information.

Sources:

Monaghan, Patricia. The New Book of Goddesses and Heroines, “Naru-Kami”.

“The Three Kadlu Sisters’ themes are summer, winter, weather and banishing. Their symbols are lightning and thunder. Among the Inuit and several other northern tribes, these divine sisters rule the weather, so watch today’s ritual closely to see what winter will be like! Children’s stories claim that when the Goddesses play together they make thunder and lightning.

Around this time of year, people in Alaska have a playful tug-of-war between winter and summer. These born in winter take winter’s side – those born in summer stand opposite. If the summer side winds, winter will be mild and goodness will prevail.

This activity is fun for children, and it reinforces the idea of seasonal cycles. Place a ribbon in the middle of the tug robe with the name of these sisters painted upon it. When the game is over, see which side the Goddess landed upon to know what the weather will be like!

If it rains today, it’s a sign of the Goddesses playing together, so get outside and join them (even if cold weather keeps this brief). Thunder on your right tells of better days ahead. Thunder on your left warns that caution is prudent. Lightning stretching across the sky symbolizes your ability to likewise stretch and grow. Lightning in front of you represents your ability to go forward boldly with your plans, knowing these Goddesses light your way.”

(Patricia Telesco, “365 Goddess: a daily guide to the magic and inspiration of the goddess”.)

According to Patricia Monaghan, Kadlu, “the Eskimo thunder Goddess was originally a little girl who played so noisily that Her parents told Her and Her sisters to go outside to play. So they did, inventing a game in which Kadlu jumped on hollow ice, causing a thunderous sound; Kweetoo rubbed flint stones together to create lightning; and an unnamed sister urinated so profusely that She created rain.

Transported to the sky, the Goddesses lived in a whalebone house far in the west, away from the sea, where the sisters wore no clothing but blackened their faces with soot. For food, they went hunting for caribou, striking them down with lightning.

Some legends said that Kadlu made thunder by rubbing dry sealskins together or by singing. In some areas, women were said to be able to avert thunderstorms, or to create them, by leaving offerings for the trinity of weather Goddesses: needles, bits of ivory, old pieces of sealskin” (p. 176).

“Oya’s themes are justice, tradition, zeal and femininity. Her symbols are fire, water and the number 9.

A Yoruban mother Goddess and spirit of the river Niger, Oya flowers with us through the last day of January, strengthening our passion for and appreciation of life. She is wild and irrepressible, like the fire she’s said to have created, yet Oya presides over matters of fairness and custom, using that fire as the light of truth. Artistic depictions of Oya show a nine-headed woman whose bosom speaks of fertile femininity.

Enjoy a glass of water when you get up to begin generating Oya’s zest for life in your body and soul. This is also very suited to the energies of the day. Aquarius represents the Water Bearer who continually pours inspiring, creative waters from celestial spheres into our lives.

Get out and do something daring today. Invoke Oya through your pleasure and pure excitement. Dare to dream; then try to make that dream come true somehow.

If there is some aria of your life that needs more equity, try making this Oya charm:

Take any small candle and carve Oya’s name into it. Have a glass of water nearby. light the candle to invoke the Goddess. Hold the water over the candle, saying something like this:

‘What injustice consumes
Oya’s water quell.’

Drop a little water on the candle, then trim off the taper, carrying it with you to draw justice to you.”

(Patricia Telesco, “365 Goddess: a daily guide to the magic and inspiration of the goddess”.)

“Oya is one of the most powerful African Goddesses (Orishas). A Warrior-Queen, She is the sister-wife of the God Shango, to whom She gave the power to create storms. Much of Oya’s power is rooted in the natural world; She is the Goddess of thunder, lightning, tornadoes, winds, rainstorms and hurricanes. A Fire Goddess, it is Oya who brings rapid change and aids us in both inner and outer transformation.

Oya is the guardian of the realm between life and death; as such, She is not only the Goddess of spirit communication, funerals and cemeteries but also the Goddess of clairvoyance, psychic abilities, intuition and rebirth. She can call forth the spirit of death, or hold it back — such is the extent of Her power. Because of Her affiliation to the dead, and Her intense knowledge of the magick arts, Oya is also known as “the Great Mother of the Elders of the Night (Witches)”.

"Oya" by Sandra M. Stanton

Oya is both loved and feared, and for good reason: unleashed, Oya is the Savage Warrior, the Protective Mother, She whose power sweeps all injustice, deceit and dishonesty from Her path. She will destroy villages if the need is true enough, for while She understands everything, She will only accept, act upon, and speak the truth (even when it is hard to bear).

Oya is the protectress of women and patron of feminine leadership. Fiercely loving, She is wildly unpredictable and can change from benevolent, caring Mother to destructive Warrior in the blink of an eye. Passionate, fearless, sensual and independent, Oya is not a Goddess to be invoked lightly and must be treated with respect and care.

While She will toss you in Her storms of change, and shelter you in Her caring embrace, She will also strike you down with Her lightning should the need arise. However, do not let that dissuade you from working with Oya, for She is the Strong Woman, the Bringer of Change and Seeker of Truth, who can be a most powerful ally.” (Hedgewitch, Order of the White Moon: an eclectic international order of women dedicated to the Goddess, Oya: Lady of Storms).

A few other fun pages to visit are Anita Revel’s Reconnect with Your Inner Goddess – Oya and An Inner Journey: The Moon, Mythology and You – archetypal dimensions of the female self through the old myths – Oya.

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A personal journal to share my artistic works, to write about Norse shamanism and traditional paganism, European History, Archaeology, Runes, Working with the Gods and my personal experiences in Norse shamanic practices.